About Janice, Gene & Ali

Born to perform, Janice’s earliest memories are musical. She sang and danced as a child and became an actress in high school. Her work in theater informs her vocal performance and, as Roger Crane has noted, “she does something a lot of singers cannot do, which is convey truth and emotion, in other words ‘tell the story.’
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A Los Angeles native, Janice is most at home in the jazz repertoire, where audiences appreciate her ability to draw the listener in with the clarity of her delivery, bringing each song to life and giving it pianist Chris Dawson, among others. Janice has also studied and performed with notable vocalists and personal depth.

You can judge a singer by the company she keeps and the very best musicians love to work with Janice. She has performed with pianist / composer / producer Daniel May, drummer Joe LaBarbera, bassist Darek Oles, guitarist Larry Koonse, guitarist Anthony Wilson, bassist Putter Smith, saxophonist Bob Sheppard, vocal coaches, such as Cathy Segal Garcia, Barbara Morrison and Tierney Sutton.

The many venues where Janice has performed include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Spazios, Santa Monica’s Loew’s Beach Hotel, Casa Del Mar Hotel, the legendary Hermosa Beach Lighthouse, Ca del Sol, Steamers in Fullerton, the now defunct The Jazz Spot, Sportsman’s Lodge, the downtown Biltmore Hotel, the Pasadena Playhouse and the Pasadena Playboy Jazz Festival.

Janice also lends her voice to audio books and curates a monthly Jazz Vespers Concert Series in Santa Monica.

Gene grew up playing folk music in the 1960’s and honed his skills during succeeding decades, performing more than 6,000 hours at night clubs, music festivals and other venues, mostly in his native Southern California. His Christian walk began as a teenager when he joined an evangelical church and began singing gospel songs in the youth choir.

Since 1990, Gene has been a regular part of the Los Angeles zydeco scene (cajun-creole music), playing guitar for such noted Louisiana accordionists as Jeffery Broussard, LeRoy Thomas, Jeremy Fruge and Willis Prudhomme. He has also played in a dozen rock, country and blues bands and has opened concerts for Joe Cocker and Little Feat.

With Janice, Gene & Ali, Gene returns to his folk music roots with carefully crafted guitar arrangements and mellow baritone vocals that add richness to the trio’s overall sound.

Gene lives with his wife Ann in Santa Monica, California, where they are members of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church.

Originally from Havana, Cuba, Ali fell in love with the guitar at 14 and taught herself to play. While living in Jacksonville, Florida, she was chosen to join the international musical show Up With People and graduated from their traveling high school program. During her two years of touring the world, she started writing her own songs, her graduation “speech” being one of the first. She then began her career as a solo artist while attending USF in Tampa, doing college concerts and performing at Walt Disney World before making her way to Los Angeles.

In 2001, Ali received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Original Song on NBC’s soap opera, Passions. She co-wrote the theme to Disney’s TV cartoon, Lilo & Stitch: The Series and the end title song for Stitch, The Movie, “Aloha, E Komo Mai,” also featured at a Tokyo Disneyland attraction. Among her other music credits are DreamWorks’ The Road to El Dorado with Elton John, Thunderheart with Val Kilmer, Out For Justice with Steven Segal, Friends & Lovers with Robert Downey Jr., and several TV movies and shows.

Ali won 1st place in the Latin category of Billboard’s 7th Annual Song Competition for her bilingual song “I’ll Get over You.” She is also the featured vocalist and guitarist on “Two Brothers” with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Disney’s American Adventure in Epcot Center and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at Disneyland.

An accomplished studio singer, Ali has sung on numerous Latin albums by artists like Chayanne and Roberto Carlos, as well as on many radio and television commercials, including Coca-Cola Classic, Toyota, and McDonald’s. Her unique vocal style and ability to write in both English and Spanish have led to writing Spanish lyrics for songs by Diane Warren, Amanda McBroom (“The Rose”) and Tom Snow. She also adapted the Radio City Christmas Spectacular for Mexico City audiences.

One of Ali’s most exciting musical experiences was getting to perform a world premiere of her Christmas song, “A Ver, A Ver Al Niño Jesus” (Los Tres Reyes Magos) with the Inland Empire Philharmonic, under the direction of Dr. Michael Isaacson. It has subsequently been performed by various church choirs throughout the Los Angeles area.

About this music

The human voice is a glorious creation, animated by the breath, the spirit itself.

The Book of Genesis gives us the voice of God, speaking or singing the universe into creation.

In this thoughtful and inspired album the words are central; the voices are clear and pure. The songs signify. The words are discovered anew and their meaning is revealed.

Representing a range of musical traditions, coming from a variety of musical worlds—Latin, pop, country, jazz, zydeco, blues—the singers align in perfect praise. All glory be to God!

Janice, Gene and Ali first sang together on September 3, 2011, at the memorial service for Pastor Gary Marshall at Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Santa Monica. The exceptional clarity and intensity of their rendering of traditional American Christian music was palpable.

In the weeks that followed the idea slowly grew that a recording would be a gift to lovers of this kind of music as well as a suitable memorial to Gary Marshall and Kathryn Skatula.

Kathryn Skatula, a gifted musician and actress, had often served as Pastor Gary’s assisting minister before her passing from ALS in 2008. Ali’s life partner, she was beloved by many in the church and the LA entertainment community. The recording commemorates Kathryn’s exemplary Christian witness as well as the ministry of Pastor Gary.